Hypernasality Diagnosis
Hypernasality
Hypernasality is a vocal disorder affecting the resonance of the voice. It is characterized by excessive nasal resonance during phonation. This particular vocal disorder poses a problem because the judgment of nasality may vary from listener to listener. Typically a person exhibiting hypernasality is increasing the nasal quality of their voice though unsuccessful closure of their velopharyngeal port.
The gap caused by this disorder allows sound waves to enter the nasal cavity during phonation, causing nasal resonance. The inability to properly close the velopharyngeal port results from either a structural or functional defect.
Structurally, hypernasality is caused by an unresolved cleft palate or a short soft palate. A cleft palate is a natural birth defect originating from abnormal facial development during gestation. While a short soft palate can result from a birth defect as well, it can also be caused by accidental injury, surgical trauma, or certain types of diseases.
People who speak with functional hypernasality do not properly close their velopharyngeal port due to cultural or environmental factors. To clarify, functional hypernasality can result from the desire to sound a certain way during regular phonation or as a form of previously acceptable speech.
Diagnosis :
In the case of hypernasality, the diagnosis is extremely subjective. Depending on the language or dialect of a region, a certain amount of nasality may be desirable. Even in singing, some cultures may consider a hypernasal resonance desirable. Usually, hypernasality is diagnosed as
an above average nasaly sound upon phonation in relation to others within the same society.
